~ Genealogy, History, and whatever else crosses my mind

Tombstone Tuesday: An Impressive Monument

Every once in awhile, you come across a tombstone that makes you stop in your tracks. One such tombstone (or, rather, a monument) that did that to me was this impressive one in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis:

Akins monument, Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana

This monument stands approximately 7 feet tall and is near the top of Crown Hill, where the poet James Whitcomb Riley is buried. The inscription on the left pillar reads:

Masters at the art of living
draw no sharp distinction
between work and play,
labor and leisure,
mind and body,
education and recreation,
hardly knowing which is which.

They simply pursue their vision
of excellence through whatever
they are doing and leave
others to determine whether
they are working or playing.
To themselves, they always seem
to be doing both.

The right-hand column has not only their names and dates, but also maps of Virginia and Ohio showing where each was born, and a map of Indiana showing where their sons were born. Their descendants are going to love them for this stone!

Crown Hill Cemetery is one of my favorites and I will write about it in a later post.